The death of Len Bias set the Celtics back by many years. Yes, I understand he was picked before there was a lottery pick.
I didn't say everyone knew that Jordan would "become what he did." No one knew he'd end up as arguably the greatest player ever. But it was fairly well-established (in my recollections anyway) that Jordan was more talented than Bowie (it wasn't established that Jordan was more talented than Olajuwon). There was a lot of discussion of Jordan being arguably the best player in college basketball. But the thinking back then was that you couldn't build a franchise around a shooting guard and that a big man, even one less talented than the shooting guard, was a better franchise foundation. To be clear, I'm also not saying that Bowie would have been a bad player. My "in no universe" comment was that injuries aren't what made him the wrong pick--the process in selecting him was a poor one, IMO. I strongly believe that if Bowie, Olajuwon and Jordan were in this year's draft (instead of 1984), Jordan would go first or second (Olajuwon might still go first, because he was a freak talent in any era) and no one would rank Bowie ahead of Jordan.
Good example. I don't think draft picks to whom unfortunate things happen, like injuries or worse, AFTER the pick was selected should be considered "worst" picks. You can't know the future. If a drafted player gets in a car crash and dies, that doesn't mean it was a bad pick. Same for a guy who blows out his knees and is never the same. Hindsight doesn't count, IMO.
10 other NBA teams passed on Dr. J because he was already under contract with the ABA Virginia Squires. MIL took a chance on him with the 12th pick, but he never played a game in a Bucks uniform, and because he was under contact with the New Jersey Nets at the time of the ABA/NBA merger, MIL lost his NBA rights. While adding Erving to team with Kareem and Oscar Robertson looked good on paper, it ended up being a completely wasted pick by the Bucks, and would have been for Portland, too. Also, in hindsight, drafting LaRue Martin led us to our one, and only championship. Had we not drafted Martin with the 1st pick in 1972, we would not have sucked badly enough two years later to be able to draft Bill Walton with the first pick in the draft in 1974. Had we drafted Bob McAdoo in 1972, we would have been very good, but not good enough to win a championship, and would have missed out on drafting Walton. So, it all worked out in the end. BNM
No argument there. The game has changed dramatically. In 1984 you had to have a good big to compete. Now the value of the guards/wings has taken control.
Did you really need one, though? The Bulls did fine with Cartwright, Wennington, Perdue and Longley. Cartwright and Longley were okay, but nothing too special. I think the perception was that you had to have a star big to compete, but the reality was that you just needed overall team talent.
MJ would've made Drexler a better player. Clyde Drexler was historically a terrible practice player. Michael Jordan would have had NONE of that shit. I fully believe Drex would've played better D and have a MUCH better Jumper & Left hand.
Cartwright, Perdue and Longley were all either big, long or both and provided solid defense, and that was a later era. After the Kiki trade we had Audie Norris and Tom Scheffler. Staring at a 7'1" shot blocker who could rebound and still hit 75% from the line looked pretty good. Even more so when you have all the scoring wings they had at the time. Remember who the contenders where around the 1984 draft: 1981 Finalists: Malone v. Kareem 1982 Finalists: Kareem v. Caldwell Jones/Dawkins 1983 Finalists: Malone v. Kareem 1984 Finalists: Kareem v. Parish 1985 Finalists: Kareem v. Parish 1986 Finalists: Akeem v. Parish 1987 Finalists: Kareem v. Parish
The vast majority of that is two teams--the Lakers and Celtics. And Parish wasn't one of the main drivers of that team, really. Yes, the Bulls' centers all had their uses and Norris/Scheffler were non-entities. There's a big difference between "You probably need to have basic competence at center (and every position) to compete for a title" and "You need a star big man to compete for a title." Portland didn't need to invest the #2 pick to attain basic competence at center--even if all they had was Norris/Scheffler at the time, it's much easier to get a Cartwright or Perdue type of player than a franchise-caliber star at any position. Portland fell into two classic traps: Prioritizing need over all else and abiding by inflexible maxims like "You gotta have a franchise big man to win." It's worth noting that Bowie also had major injury red flags before he entered the NBA. But since my argument is that even a fully healthy Bowie would have been the wrong pick (even without the benefit of hindsight), that's not super important here. But it adds to the baffling nature of the pick, IMO.
I was always fearful of my 1st impression of Oden, which was, Gather, gather Jump. More like Daile Davis then Bill Russell. I don't think the man's processor was quick enough to allow him to be a great ball player even if uninjured.
Completely disagree. In his one semi-healthy season, he put up all-star-caliber numbers (pro-rated). Had he been healthy, he would have been outstanding.
Thanks for pointing this out. This shit drives me crazy sometimes. In his 2nd season he was NOT IN SHAPE, and he still put up a 23.1 PER.
Oden's numbers his first two seasons were fantastic: Year 1: 18.1 PER / .599 TS% / 20 Rebound Rate / 4.2 Block Rate / 116 Offensive Rating / 104 Defensive Rating Year 2: 23.1 PER / .647 TS% / 21.9 Rebound Rate / 7.7 Block Rate / 118 Offensive Rating / 100 Defensive Rating So, as a rookie, he was an offensive force, rebounding force and good defender. In year 2, he was an offensive force, rebounding force and defensive force. He wasn't a flawless player--his main weaknesses were fouling and turnovers. Pretty much what you'd expect from a young player learning to play in the NBA. But his advanced numbers all point to his talent being as advertised. He simply didn't have the knees.
